Introducing: scientist Chen, whose parents' incineration by ball lightning sparks an obsessive quest to understand the phenomenon; army major Lin Yun, who's also interested in ball lightning -- as a weapon.

Author alert: Multi-award-winning Chinese SF novelist Cixin Liu is the author of the epic trilogy that begins with The Three-Body Problem.

Read this next: If you're interested in the growing body of Chinese speculative fiction, check out the anthologyInvisible Planets: Contemporary Science Fiction in Translation, edited by Ken Liu.

The situation: Something's rotten in Renthia, where elemental spirits are kept in check by the chosen Queen, her elite guard of Champions, and their apprentices, the Heirs. The spirits are breaking free of their wards...

Starring: Daleina, who survived the spirit attack that devastated her village, and disgraced Champion Ven, who joins her on a mission to save the realm.

Why you might like it: This 1st installment of the Queens of Renthia series contains both an action-packed quest and ample palace intrigue.

Starring: Essun, an "orogene" whose ability to shape the contours of the land make her subject to persecution.

What happens: When her husband murders their son and abducts their daughter, grief-stricken and vengeful Essun pursues him across The Stillness, a vast and dynamic super-continent on the brink of catastrophe that will usher in a "fifth season," a time of uncertainty and hardship.

Did you know? All three books in the Broken Earth series, including sequels The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky, have won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Doing it for the insta: Now that a tick-borne pandemic has forced humanity to retreat behind chemical barriers known as "Salt Lines," well-heeled thrill-seekers pursue a form of "extreme tourism" in the wilderness beyond the boundaries.

What it's like: Scott Smith's The Ruins meets Alexandra Oliva's The Last One.

Is it for you? Descriptions of the damage inflicted by deadly miner ticks make this debut best for readers with strong stomachs.

What happens: Sea-level rise, the result of climate change, transforms 22nd-century New York City into a partially submerged metropolis.

Introducing: a large and diverse cast of characters living in, on, or near Manhattan's MetLife Tower, including a hedge fund manager speculating on coastal real estate and a pair of treasure-hunting adolescents.

What sets it apart:New York 2140 is more optimistic than most apocalyptic fiction, though it does offer a pointed critique of capitalism's role in exacerbating social inequality.